Chapter 12
-Hive-
"Welcome to the Hive" a disembodied voice said. "In this place, you can leave your painful past behind and have the life you've always wanted." the voice continued, "Ah, I see… so this is what your heart desires… A whole Family and never-ending friendships." the voice said. "Wake up and this is the world that you shall have."
April woke up in a haze of disorientation. She was lying on something soft, a bed? She sat up and noticed that she was in her bedroom. But was that right? She had the feeling that she was supposed to be somewhere else, with someone else. April munched down on the side of her finger, trying to conjure up a memory.
Just when the memory was on the verge of revealing itself a shrill sound cut through the silence, causing the memory to fall away. April turned toward the culprit, her tablet was buzzing with sound, signifying that she should get ready for school. "Calm down, April, it was just a dream." April said, then grabbed her tablet and shut off the alarm before getting out of bed.
Using the light from her tablet, April went to her closet and changed into her Springhill Academy uniform, then headed to the bathroom to finish her morning routine.
"April, Irma's here!" April let her hands fall from her newly formed ponytail as she recognized the voice as her mom's. April quickly hurried down to the kitchen and froze when she saw her mom standing there, next to Irma.
"Mom?" April didn't want to move out of fear that her mom would somehow vanish if she did. April felt a wave of sadness run through her, stabbing her at her core. Why did it feel like she hadn't seen her mom in years? The ache finally gave April the power to move so she crossed the room to wrap her mom up in a tight hug. April buried her nose in her mom's shirt, taking in a slow breath. She smelled like fresh laundry and cookies.
"April, sweetie, are you alright?" Mrs. O'Neal asked rubbing April's back as she returned the hug.
Hearing the concern in her mom's voice made April realize that she was acting strange. "Yeah, I just had a bad dream… it freaked me out." April said.
"That's what you get for eating pizza before bed." She said, placing a hand on April's head the way she did when April was a little girl. Another pang of sadness. April ignored this one and let her mom go.
"Uh-oh." Irma said. "You only eat pizza when you have a big scoop for the school paper. What is it this time?"
"I'm hoping to dig up dirt on just where the football team got the money to pay for their new uniforms by siphoning off funds from the art department." April said.
"Scandalous." Irma teased. "See that's why I write the advice column. I don't have your superpower." She said.
"It's not a super power." Irma was referring to the way April always managed to be really good at exposing the truth. "I'm just at the right place at the right time." She said then turned toward her mom again, "wish me luck, that Mr. Thompson lets me run with this story."
"Good Luck." Mrs. O'Neal said
April walked along side Irma, on their way to school, only to be interrupted by a voice coming from the alley they'd just passed. April came to an abrupt stop and wandered down the alley before Irma even noticed she was gone.
"You tell that little punk to get the money or we'll get it from his dad's insurance polity… No, idiot, we'll torch his dad's store." The man paused, "Yes exactly, then he'll have enough money to pay his debt."
Upon closer inspection, April saw a rather large man talking on his cell phone, a purple dragon tattoo wrapped around his thick arm. He was part of the most notorious gang in New York, the aptly named, Purple Dragons.
Deciding that getting wrapped up in gang activity would shorten her lifespan significantly, April backed up. Unfortunately, the back of her foot came in contact with an empty soda can, it bounced away with a metallic sound, alerting the gang member to her presence. Luckily, he hadn't spotted her, though with nowhere to go she didn't know why she counted that as being lucky.
The gang member's thick boots stomped as he came toward her, any moment and she'd be discovered. April was about to resign herself to her fate when a tabby cat jumped to the top of the dumpster with a loud thud. "Meow!"
"Stupid cats." April heard the gang member say as the sound of his boots became distant.
After a few minutes April stood up from her crouched position and pet the cat. "My hero." She said, teasing the tag on the cat's collar up so she could read his name. "Thank you, Klunk."
Suddenly, the cat's ears perked up and it took off out of the alley, chasing after some unseen fiend. April watched him leave and was struck by a strong sense of familiarity coming from her surroundings. She'd been in this alley before.
Visions swirled around in her head, colorful patterns, memories that she'd forgotten, fighting hard to be remembered. April followed the ghostly visions until she heard a thump beneath her feet, she looked down and discovered that she was standing on a manhole cover. Something stabbed at her heart and that ache that she felt this morning was back. "What the heck is wrong with me today?" she asked.
"April!" Irma's sudden voice startled April back to reality and she looked toward the entrance of the alley, catching her best friend wearing an annoyed expression. "What are you doing? I turn around and you were gone, come on we're gonna be late."
Irma and April made it to their journalism class with five minutes to spare and both took their seats as they waited for the bell to signify the start of a new day.
Mr. Thompson stood at the head of the class, "It's the first Wednesday of the month and you guys know what that means. Who wants to pitch me their story first?"
"Oh, I do, Mr. Thompson." Said Springhill's resident douchebag and April's arch rival for the head reporter position, Vernon Fenwick.
"Alright, Vernon." Mr. Thompson said. "Tell me what'cha got."
"I want to cover the football team." He said and April sat up in her seat. "But my main focus for the story is how they were able to afford their new uniforms thanks to the art department." April's jaw dropped, how the heck had Vernon managed to scoop her story? She bristled.
"Good, run with that." Mr. Thompson said. "April, you had your hand up as well, what's your pitch?"
"I um…" April floundered. "I don't have one..." April admitted in defeat.
"Again? I'm beginning to wonder if this class is just some sort of joke to you." Mr. Thompson took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "I warned you, now I'm going to have to remove you from this course."
April jumped out of her seat in surprise. "Wait, No! Please, Mr. Thompson, give me another chance." April said. "I swear, this class is my life."
Mr. Thompson paused for a moment, lost in thought, and a slow smile crept onto his features. "Okay. I have an assignment for you, complete it and you can stay in the class." April didn't like the tone of his voice but she nodded anyway.
"The all-county science fair is in one week and, Donatello, one of Springhill's very own students is favored to win the grand prize. I would like you to get an exclusive interview with him."
"That's it?" April asked. "All I have to do is one interview and I can stay in the class?" she reiterated.
"It won't be as easy as you think" Mr. Thompson said, "This student is very private about his project, you are the only reporter in the class he hasn't turned down."
April scoffed, there wasn't anyone she couldn't make talk. This would be a piece of cake. "I'll do it." She said. "And I would also like to be the first to pitch a story next month." She added. Take that Vernon.
"Deal." He said and it was apparent to April that he didn't think she could do it. She'd show him. Interviews were the easy part, you just had to be persistent, plus it helped that pestering someone wasn't grounds for a restraining order.
April sat back down as Mr. Thompson moved on to his other reporters, but no sooner had her butt hit the chair than a voice came over the loud speaker, calling April to the office. April rolled her eyes to the string of Ooo's coming from her classmates as she left the classroom.
April made her way to the office and took a seat just outside the Headmaster's office, the door was ajar, allowing her to hear the conversation coming from within.
"You don't understand, I was framed."
That voice. April leaned in closer, where had she heard that voice before?
"So you didn't set the lab on fire?" the headmaster said
"Well, technically, I did but…" the voice paused, April figured the headmaster was giving his signature my-hand-goes-up-your-mouth-goes-shut gesture.
"I should have you expelled but you have the highest academic marks at this school so I won't." He said. "However, I expect you to go to detention every day for a week and the lab is off limits to you for the rest of the year."
"Yes, sir." The student said defeated, April wondered why he wasn't standing up for himself. It was obvious that there was more to his story.
"Yes, sir." The door few open and April disguised the fact that she'd overheard them by scrolling through a random app on her tablet. The student sighed and April looked up at him and the world seemed to stop.
The mutant turtle standing in front of her took her breath away. He was tall and thin but April could tell that he was also pretty strong. He wore purple which brought out the flecks of gold in his chocolate colored eyes. He caught her staring at him and blushed before hurrying out of the office.
"April, please come in here." The headmaster said, at some point he'd made his way to the door and held it open for her. April went inside and was anxious, what could she have possibly done to warrant a trip to the office? "Have a seat." April sat down while the headmaster made his way around to his own seat.
"Don't you think you should have given him a chance to explain himself?" April regretted asking the question immediately as it gave up the fact that she'd been listening in. She couldn't help it, it was in her nature as an aspiring reporter to ask questions. To uncover the cold hard truth.
"I am going to pretend I didn't hear that, Ms. O'Neal." He said. "Eavesdropping is a serious offence. Need I remind you that you are on thin ice after that report you made last year." She flinched, the headmaster was referring to her article about the coach bribing the teachers to give the football players passing grades. "I took a lot of heat from the parents for that little stunt."
"I know sir." April said, grimacing inwardly at the memory. She'd been telling the truth but the proof of her claims were stolen and her article was deemed "Fake News".
"I had to pull a lot of strings to get you into the journalism program this year." The headmaster said, and April could see the wheels turning in his mind. "In fact, that gives me an idea." He said. "I called you in here to volunteer for an assignment but as it stands I don't think I have to ask."
"I... guess not." April said, feeling uneasy
"I knew you'd see it my way." He said, "For a while now, the Mr. Hamato the philosophy teacher has been asking if he can establish a martial arts club. I finally decided to let him because of Springhill's apparent discipline problem." He said and April got the impression that he was talking about the student who'd just left. "In short, I would like for you to be Mr. Hamato's teaching assistant."
After school, April made her way to the fourth floor, where all the afterschool programs were hosted and found Mr. Hamato's class room. When she walked through the door the half human half rodent teacher smiled softly at her. He gave off an air of wisdom that made April feel both welcome and unworthy to be in his presence.
"Are you Mr. Hamato?" she asked.
"I am, but you may refer to me as Splinter." He said.
"Alright, Splinter." April paused when his name past her lips, finding it nostalgic for some reason.
"You must be April my T.A." She nodded, "you write for the school paper, correct?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Why?" he asked
Why? April had to pause, no one had ever asked her that before, nor had she ever thought to explore it. "I don't know, I guess I like to make people face the truth."
"I see." He said, stroking his beard with one pawed hand "And do you think it's helpful to force people to "face the truth", as you put it?"
"Well, yeah, I mean, sure it's painful but it sets people free." She said.
"Hmm, and do you think it's fair to force people to see the truth when you, yourself refuse to do see it?"
"What do you mean?" April asked.
"Only, you can answer that." He said, opening the door for them. Leave it to the philosophy teacher to say something cryptic and leave it open to interpretation.
A knock came at the door, causing both April and Splinter to look up. "Mr. Hamato? I'm here for…" he sighed, "detention." April recognized the turtle as Leonardo, Springhill Academy's shining star. April wondered how someone such as he ended up in detention.
"I am aware of that." Splinter says. "I know the headmaster only gave me this opportunity because he hoped that I would use martial arts as a form of punishment." He said. "However, I'm positive that you and the others will find that it's so much more than that. You might even find it enlightening." He said, but April got the feeling that the last bit was directed towards her.
"Oh, this is rich, look who's here." A gruff voice interrupted them and April's eyes widened at the sight of Raphael, whose reputation was as bad as they came. He wasn't someone you wanted to mess with lest you wanted to end up in the hospital. "Lame-o-nardo, in detention." Raphael said. "Never thought I'd see the day. Welcome to the dark side, Teacher's Pet, you here for the sex, drugs and devil worshipping?"
"Hardly, Riff-Raph." Leonard spat, "I'm surprised to see a deadbeat like you here. I figured you've been upgraded to prison by now." April winced, was Leonardo trying to commit suicide by ass-kicking just because he got detention?
"You know what…" Raphael cracked his knuckles and made his way toward Leonardo, who made no move to back down despite Raphael's obvious weight advantage. "Someone ought'a take you down a few pegs and I'm just the turtle for the job."
"Chill, Raph." An orange clad turtle filed into the room shoving the Raphael and Leonardo apart in one fell swoop. "Not in front of the lady." He smiled before taking Aprils hand in his. "Nice to meet you, I am Michelangelo but you can call me Mikey." He said and wiggled his eyebrows. April giggled and just like that the tension in the room was gone.
"I'm April." She said. "I'm a journalist."
"Like you write in a diary every day?" Michelangelo asked.
"No, Mikey, a journalist writes for a newspaper or some other news outlet." April turned her attention toward the door. It was him, the turtle from the office. He gave her an adorable gap-toothed smile and April felt that familiar pain again. "I saw you in the office earlier." He said then extended his hand. "My name's Donatello."
A/N:
There you have it, a little long and out there but I hope you enjoyed it all the same.
Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter, you guys are the best.
And if you feel like sharing (cuz I have no one to talk to about this) what do you think of the new TMNT 2018, not sure how I feel about Raph being team leader? He's my fav but as a writer and knowing his character, I don't really see how it can work. Thoughts?
As always, leave a comment if you are so inclined and I have a beautiful day.